Dayton Agreement

The Dayton Agreement, signed on 14 December 1995, was the peace agreement reached at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio on 14 December 1995, ending the Bosnian War. The Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, Bosnian leader Alija Izetbegovic, and Croatian leader Franjo Tudman were brought to the table after NATO bombed Bosnian Serb forces in "Operation Deliberate Force", and the three sides, with US mediation, met to decide upon a peace deal. Bosnia and Herzegovina was to remain one country, but divided into a Bosniak-Croat Federation in the west and the Republika Srpska in the east. The Bosniaks and Croats would share 51% of the country, while the Serbs would hold 49% of it; this was implemented after the negotiators agreed to the town of Brcko being placed under international arbitration, and a road was built through Srpski territory to reach the Bosniak enclave of Gorazde. The Croats were initially upset to give up the gains that they had acquired during Operation Mistral 2, while the Serbs were also reluctant to give up their right to govern Serb-majority areas in Bosnian territory and to give up their areas in Sarajevo. However, the Croats, Serbs, and Bosniaks agreed to the terms, bringing peace to Bosnia and Herzegovina.